Tuesday, 4 November 2014

If I Could Go Anywhere...

This photo was taken earlier this year, in a wonderful little vegan cafe in Barcelona. It was Ebony's first holiday abroad, and her first milkshake. To say she loves holidays, is an understatement. She was so happy to have the undivided attention of both her parents, access to a pool, and a bucket and spade. I would love to take her away again to another amazing holiday destination.

Trying to decide where in the world I would go, if I could go absolutely anywhere, is actually pretty tough. There are so many places I would love to see - India, Iceland, Croatia, New York, Thailand, and a list of places I’ve already been that I would love to visit again. The world is just so big, isn’t it?

Aside from four weeks spent drunkenly navigating from train station to train station across Europe with my friend Amanda in my younger (and much drunker) years, I haven’t really traveled. I’ve been on plenty of holidays, usually to Europe, though I’ve also been further afield, but haven’t really done much in the way of travelling. I’m the odd one out of the family, my little sister currently resides in Canada where she’s spending two years working, drinking and working across the country, and my parents have seen most of the world. They married young, travelled lots and had kids years later. Then they waited for those pesky kids to grow up, and continued travelling the world together, working their way through a bucket list of places they each want to see.

When my parents were first married, they flew out to the USA, bought a cheap car, and spent six weeks driving across America, calling in at all the sights on the way. They’ve been everywhere, and my mum kept a diary of their trip. I discovered the diary in my teenage years, when I was already swept up with the idea of America, and it sounded like such an adventure. I would love to do something similar. I would love to fly out there, then spend weeks exploring all that America has to offer, before heading back home (to moan about the distinct lack of amazing vegan food round these parts).

I would love to visit New York, and can only imagine how good the vegan food is over there. From all vegan ice cream parlours, to vegan hot dog stands, and fancy raw vegan restaurants, it seems to be the place where vegan dreams come true. I would love to take Ebony to burn off energy in Central Park. I would love to see California, and to take Ebony to Florida for just a tiny bit of Disney magic. I can only imagine how much she would love exploring the park, spotting characters along the way. I would love to visit Las Vegas, and go to Washington DC to see the White House. I would love to take Ebony to see some of the wildlife over there, and to show her how different it is from our native wildlife.

I would love to do it all at once, and spend our time exploring on a real adventure, rather than splitting it up into a lifetime's worth of holidays. I would like to take that block of time, and spend it just the three of us, creating memories and taking our footprints across the globe. No work, no emails, no distractions. Doesn’t it sound perfect?

This post is an entry for the #Flying100 Family Holiday Challenge, celebrating how flying allows us to make memories and ‘be there’, in association with #Flying100. Find out more at http://bit.ly/flying100